ILGA-Europe warns about the worrying situation of the rights of LGBT people in Europe and Central Asia. Particularly concerning is the hate speech spread by politicians, which has brought to the agenda the impact of spreading information about LGBT issues on minors, which is assessed as a risk for ensuring the protection of children.
On February 29, the organization published its annual review summarizing the situation of LGBT people in Europe and Central Asia in 2023, which includes information on about 54 countries. The data contained in the report give cause for concern not only in terms of the extent of violations of the rights of LGBT people in all member states, but also in terms of the spread of hate speech and hate crimes in the EU member states. In particular, hate speech by politicians was recorded in 32 states, and 21 of them are EU member states. In 48 of the observed countries, during 2023, hate crime cases were recorded due to the sexual orientation and gender identity of the victims.
The report also includes a section on the situation of LGBT people in Armenia, where the murder of a transgender person during the year, police violence in the Poligraf club, as well as more than eight dozen offenses based on sexual orientation and gender identity reported by non-governmental organizations are included. It was also mentioned about the calls for violence spread on online platforms and the justification of violence, which did not receive the attention of law enforcement agencies. The organization also observed that, despite the recommendations made by the Council of Europe and the OSCE, Armenia still does not record hate crimes as such and does not keep statistics. A brief reference was also made to the fact that a comprehensive anti-discrimination law has not yet been adopted in the country, and that months ago the European Committee against Racism and Intolerance again expressed concern that sexual orientation and gender identity as protected characteristics are missing in the draft law. Cases of domestic violence and the fact that LGBT persons are not provided with shelter were particularly emphasized.
Reference was also made to the report of the US State Department, which found data on the discriminatory treatment and conditions of LGBT people in prisons and detention facilities.
To remind that according to the organization’s Rainbow map, Armenia ranks third from the bottom in terms of ensuring the protection of LGBT rights, sharing it with Russia and ahead of only Turkey and Azerbaijan.
